]]>http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/02/12/out-and-about/feed/0Enter Lighthttp://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/02/11/enter-light/
http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/02/11/enter-light/#commentsFri, 11 Feb 2011 13:54:58 +0000http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/?p=48353I first noticed it a few days ago coming out of the subway station on 103rd street. The light. Then a few more times this week, including various times this morning. The light. It’s changing. Spring is coming. We know that, of course. Every day, the papers have stories from Florida. Pitchers and catchers report to Yankee camp in three days.

It is still cold in New York and we’ll still have to endure plenty of lousy weather. Bring it on. You can’t stop the light.

I’ll tell you this–when it does warm up, this town is going to blossom like nobody’s business. Man, it’s gunna be a good spring.

This morning on the train a couple sat next to me with their toddler. When the father and the child got off, the doors closed and the mother stood up and looked out of the window and waved. I’m always interested in how people say goodbye to each other on the subway. Sometimes, you’ll see a couple kiss and even before one has left the train, they have both stopped looking at each other.

I always look.

When I was growing up, we had a dog who would chase our car whenever we left home. More than a few times, I’ve gotten off the train and said goodbye to my wife, and then run down the platform as a goof to crack her up. That’s my job, make the wife smile, keep her laughing. Or maybe it’s just the K-9 in me.

Never seen anything like the sheets of ice on the streets and sidewalks of the Bronx this morning. I’m just glad I didn’t bust my ass getting to the subway. All I could think of was Cloris Leachman saying, “The stairway…can be treacherous.” By the time I reached midtown, it was raining and there wasn’t much ice to be found, just slush.

But the ice uptown, man, that was crazy. I told one of the security guards in my building about it and she said, “Welcome to the ‘hood.”

One of the benefits of living up in the Bronx is that I always get a seat on my way to work. By the time we reach Washington Heights, the train is packed. Today, it was crowded and a few people in my car were short-tempered. Nothing dramatic, just cranky on a Monday morning, negotiating space. I looked up and took it all in and thought, It’s amazing that more fights don’t break out. But the social contract holds together–most of the time.

Sometimes I wonder what life must be like away from so many people? Would it be peaceful and a relief? Or would I miss the agitation, conflict, and the pleasure of meeting a stranger’s eye and smiling ever so slightly?

]]>http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/01/31/new-york-minute-8/feed/16Sunday Night Funhttp://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/01/30/sunday-night-fun/
http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/01/30/sunday-night-fun/#commentsMon, 31 Jan 2011 00:53:25 +0000http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/?p=47823What? The Pro Bowl ain’t good enough for you? The SAG awards isn’t doin’ the trick? How about chillin’ with some pals?

A middle-aged woman came on the subway this morning with a small girl, maybe four or five years old. The girl sat a few seats away from me and the woman stood above her. I didn’t pay much attention to them but I caught the woman scolding the girl a few times. I read the paper and listened to my iPod. Then I heard the woman over the music.

“You are going to make me hurt you one of these days,” she told the child. She was smiling, playfully, without malice.